Posted: Apr 14, 2016
Fayette, Mo. Central Methodist University head volleyball coach Allison Jones-Olson announced her squad's 2016 regular season schedule on Thursday. The Eagles will look to build off a very successful 2015 season, that saw CMU finish 26-10 overall and 5-6 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play. The 2016 schedule features 40 total matches, 13 of which will be played inside of Puckett Field House.
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"We have added�quite�a few non-conference matches, that will test our team early in the season," said CMU head coach Allison Jones-Olson. "We made great strides last year, and we want to build on that from the beginning. We think by adding top opponents to our schedule, it will prepare us to compete in the already very�competitive�Heart conference."
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Looking at the Eagles schedule, Central will face four schools that finished the 2015 season in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, MidAmerica Nazarene University, Evangel University, Park University, and Ottawa University. CMU will also face two teams that finished last season receiving votes in the final poll, both are from The Heart; Grand View University and Peru State College.
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"The old�adage�of "you need to beat the best to be the best" always holds true," added Jones-Olson. "We want our team to be challenged every time we step on the floor, whether that is against a Top-25 team or an unranked opponent. It is always nice to win games, but winning against ranked teams makes it even sweeter!"
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The non-conference schedule will be a challenge for CMU this season, but so will their conference schedule within The Heart. Following the 2015 season, two teams finished in the Top-25 of the NAIA rankings, and two more teams were receiving votes. To add onto that, The Heart has also added two more schools to the conference in time for the 2016-17 athletics seasons, with Clarke University and Mount Mercy University.
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"The Heart is already a�competitive a conference within the�NAIA," said Jones-Olson. "Our top two teams were ranked in the Top-25 all year and made the National Tournament.�Besides the top two teams making the�tournament, there are several others that are building strong,�competitive�programs.�The additions of Clarke and Mount Mercy, only make us stronger because Mount Mercy also qualified for the National Tournament last year."�
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In 2016, Central Methodist will play in six road tournaments, but for the first time since 2014; when they hosted a Triangular, CMU will host a tournament as well. Central will host the CMU Tournament on Friday October 14th and Saturday October 15th, and will play five matches during that span against Friends University, Hannibal-LaGrange College, Crowleys Ridge College, Saint Mary of the Woods College, and Stephens College.
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"We have been trying to host a tournament since I got here three years ago," said Jones-Olson. "It started off as a triangle, then turned into a quad, and now we have a seven team tournament! We are very excited to get to play at home all weekend and to show our fans and students what we have to offer. We would love to keep this going and create a long-standing tradition."
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For more information about Central Methodist University athletics, visit http://www.cmueagles.com. Follow CMU athletics on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cmathletics and on Twitter twitter.com/cmueagles. �������
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